Madhya Pradesh Election 2023: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan Bets big on Women Voters, Announces Rs 12,000 Financial Aid

MP Election 2023: Madhya Pradesh has a total of 5,39,87,876 voters including 2,79,62,711 male voters and 2,60,23,733 female voters. Besides, there are a total of 1,432 voters of the third gender in the final voter list.

CM Chouhan yesterday said that the BJP government will start taking applications for 'Ladli Behna Yojana' from International Women's Day, on March 8, 2023.

Madhya Pradesh will go to assembly polls later this year. It's one of the key states for the BJP, especially in wake of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. In the last election, the Congress had managed to oust the BJP but a defection marked the return of Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the state. Chouhan, who is serving the fourth term as the chief minister of the state, is leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters ahead of the polls which will be held towards the end of this year.

CM Chouhan yesterday said that the BJP government will start taking applications for 'Ladli Behna Yojana' from International Women's Day, on March 8, 2023. The poor women would be given Rs 1000 a month under this scheme for financial empowerment. Chouhan said that he wanted to make life easier for women in the state. Along with the earlier schemes, now the Ladli Behna Yojana would improve the lives of women. 

"With the amount received under the scheme, women would be able to arrange household items for their children," he said. 

It may be recalled that Madhya Pradesh has a total of 5,39,87,876 voters including 2,79,62,711 male voters and 2,60,23,733 female voters. Besides, there are a total of 1,432 voters of the third gender in the final voter list.

Primarily being an agri state, the BJP government has put its focus on women and farmers who constitute a large chunk of voters and often prove to be decisive in the polls. While many women already benefit from the Ujjwala Yojana, the 'Ladli Behna Yojana' along with assistance to farmers can help propel BJP to the power in the state. Chouhan is already aware of this fact and his statement reflected this as well.

Chouhan said, "Our government is a farmer-friendly government. Correcting the fraud done with the farmers by the previous government, we paid the crop insurance amount as soon as we returned to power and gave the amount of crop insurance to the farmers. Our government has deposited Rs 2,25,837 crore in the accounts of farmers in various schemes like crop insurance, relief amount for horticulture, solar pump and electricity subsidy in the last two and a quarter years. This assistance will continue." 

He further said, "Till now Rs 6,000 was being received by a farmer`s family under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and Rs 4,000 under Mukhya Mantri Kisan-Kalyan Yojana. Now, these farmer families will also get Rs 12,000 under the Ladli Behna Yojana. This way, the farmer's family will start receiving Rs 22,000 annually in a year." He said that Rs 12,000 crore would be spent every year and Rs 60,000 crore in five years in Ladli Behna Yojana. 

The BJP is trying to reach out to every section of the state using Mukhya Mantri Janseva Abhiyan. "I am happy that 83 lakh people have been identified in the state through the Mukhya Mantri Janseva Abhiyan, who are eligible to take advantage of government schemes. The work of distributing approval letters to benefit all these citizens in 38 different schemes is going on in the state. Today, letters of approval were distributed to over 24,94,000 beneficiaries of Bhopal, Sagar and Ujjain divisions," Chouhan said yesterday.